Eboigbe banks her faith on community theatre.

Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Association of Theatre Arts Practitioners, Eki Faith Eboigbe, rallies colleagues to break the lull in the sector.

If all Eki Eboigbe’s wishes were horses, community theatre houses would, as early as yesterday, spring up in different parts of Lagos State and beyond. Also, The National Arts Theatre Iganmu,  Lagos  would immediately wake up from its slumber and become the active entertainment icon that would serve as a catalyst for the dreams and programmes of drama practitioners. Besides, corporate organisations would rise in support of the Thespians.

These and more are the ideas bubbling in the mind of the dramatist and founder of Entertainment Bus-Stop Ltd, as she explains in a chat with our correspondent. The ideals may sound remote to many but she believes that practitioners cannot afford to lose hope. According to her, dialogue, networking and other forms of advocacy must continue so that the change they expect can begin to manifest.

As the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Association of Theatre Arts Practitioners, she was instrumental to the organisation of a stakeholders’ forum recently held on the ideals and other sundry issues. Lagos NANTAP had called major practitioners who brainstormed on how to turn the stage around. Among them is a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Duro Oni.

Apart from the issues the forum raised in terms of professionalism, need for collaboration and holistic branding, Eboigbe says Lagos NANTAP considers the need for the establishment of neighbourhood theatres seriously.

She notes, “As we prepare to celebrate the World Theatre Day next year, preparation, discourse and collaboration are in top gear to launch the N500m Theatre Appeal Fund, which will be used to establish a contemporary community theatre structure that will complement existing structures in the city. It will provide opportunities for training and appreciation for live theatre and create a platform for thespians to express their creativity at a subsidised rate.”

She believes theatre halls should be at every local government area, she notes, the benefits are immensurable.

“ I grew up hearing and reading about ‘courtyard theatre’ and all. Creating theatre structures will resurrect the communal way of life. It is a healthy lifestyle recreation. It will reduce restiveness, increase economic power, generate wealth and will develop the community. Indeed, community theatre  will accelerate development in every aspect of our existence,” she says.

 For dramatists based in Lagos especially, the National Arts Theatre should be playing a major role in the development of the industry. Unfortunately, the edifice cannot yet do this  due to a number of related reasons. Apart from the decay besetting some of its major facilities – especially the main bowl – the way it is being administered has created a gap between the management and many practitioners who say the halls have been overpriced. This is apart from Federal Government’s own saga of underfunding and  knowing what to do exactly with the institution – to maintain, sell, privatise, commercialise or what? The syndrome usually causes dispute between the practitioners and the authorities.

Government’s latest thinking about the theatre sounds like privatisation, a move that, Eboiegbe says, NANTAP is not  opposed to once there is sincerity on government’s part.

She adds, “The FG has changed the phrase from ‘privatisation’ to ‘commercialisation’ and has set up a committee chaired by the Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, to ensure a speedy realisation of the new plan. We see the government’s new decision  as a welcome development, as we cannot afford to mortgage our identity, by allowing our culture and art to be tampered with. We encourage the hybrid of culture no doubt, but we must retain the Nigerian cultural essence and nuances, which can be achieved when we retain and restore our monuments and heritage. The task of the National Theatre administrator is to be creative in developing programmes that will attract patronage.”

Even as she continues to lead the association to what she calls higher heights, Eboigbe is working on some productions and projects, while collaborating with some other people.

She notes, “At the moment, my company, Entertainment Bus Stop ltd, an art and event renaissance consult, is coordinating a project tagged ‘Document Living Icon Project’ for Olu Ajayi Studios & Co, with the sole aim of recording in art and literary forms selected personalities who have consistent records of positive impartation to the society. Some distinguished icons that have been on canvas include Prof. Wole Soyinka, Prof. Yusuf Grillo, Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya and Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Oba Erediauwa. On December 9, 2013, we will document  Prof. J. P Clark.”

An alumnus of the University of Lagos, National Institute for Cultural Orientation and Fate Foundation Entrepreneurs Business School, Lagos, Eboigbe has been a TV/film/stage producer  as well as a project manager for some 15 years. Apart from having powered or been part of the likes of Keeping Faith, 30 Days, MTN Project Fame, she has written and produced some plays.

http://www.punchng.com/entertainment/arts-life/eboigbe-banks-her-faith-on-community-theatre/

Soyinka and Ajai-Lycett make merry. 

He is a Nobel Laureate and respected man of literature, while she is a renowned actress and theatre practitioner.

Though they are two different individuals, they will always find a meeting point. Something that is sure to always bring Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Professor Wole Soyinka together is their common passion and commitment towards the Thespian arts.

The sight of both of them at the Terra Kulture, venue of the musical show—Saro that took place recently, did not come as a surprise to many people. 

Expectedly, the two Thespians were in their elements and completely enjoyed themselves. Their faces mirrored their state of minds as they laughed and shared banters.

http://www.punchng.com/spice/society/soyinka-and-ajai-lycett-make-merry/

Nigeria’s first broadway play, Saro the Musical, is set for premiere this weekend

Theatre

“Saro will give audience goose pimples” –Directors

Directors of upcoming broadway play, Saro the Musical, have said that the audience are bound to have a swell time when it mounts the stage at the weekend.

Produced by the Managing Director of Terra Kulture, Lagos, Bolanle Austen-Peters, the play to be premiered on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, has some four directors handling different aspects of the production.

These are Makinde Adeniran, who is the executive artistic director;  Ayo Ajayi, director of dance; Gbenga Yusuf, director of dance; and Zmirage boss, Alhaji Teju Kareem, who is the technical consultant.

On what should be the audience’s expectation from the play that tells the story of Lagos in elaborate musical and dramatic performances, Adeniran notes that it promises an unlimited entertainment and a lot to reflect upon. Citing the example of the four youths who leave their local community for Lagos, in search of the city’s goodies, he explains that there are reasons to help youths to moderate the impulse  to run away from home, thinking that it is only abroad that their destinies can thrive.

“We need to look hard into the education we have to pass across because the generation is in a more difficult situation,” Adeniran  says. “It is the generation referred to as jet age; everything is coming their way but they don’t have a strand to hold it logically for them. If they are not careful, they are doomed. If they are over careful, they don’t survive.

“Saro is the greener pastures that we all seek, whether in project, in moving from environment and all of that. Most importantly, it is the journey of the determination to succeed. What are the expectations?

“The four boys in SARO left their village,  saying, ‘When we get to Lagos we will meet fame’ but when they got to Lagos the first thing they are confronted with  is the character of the environment. Not necessarily because it’s good or bad; it is because it  is out of equation for them. It landes them in the cell. So, it is that actual philosophy of ‘what if’.”

But noting that the real message of Saro is never to give up on one’s dream, Ajayi says he is very sure  guests have not seen music in  the form they are presenting before.

He adds, “We’re going to delve into the historical archive of Nigerian music in the 60s, 70s and the recent genres of this generation. Merge them, to give everyone a memorable experience.”

For Yussuf, the production is a big plus for Nigerian cultural professionals and their fans. He says, “For the first time, a complete musical is happening in Nigeria and in Lagos, produced entirely by Nigerians with no foreign influence.”

Also speaking on the magnitude of the play – with a 100-man cast – Kareem notes, “All I can say is that if you want goose pimples, come and watch Saro. I’m promising you goose pimples because Saro is going to do the same thing it has done to the Executive Producer, Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters. What has it done to her? SARO has eaten her up. She has taken a plunge into it and she has been consumed by the project Saro and she has not spared any of us that she brought into the project. Every one of us, every actor has been eaten up by Saro; we eat, live, drink, sleep and breathe Saro. We quarrel about Saro. We’re happy about Saro. Believe me, anybody that comes into that hall and will see Saro The Musical is going to be super entertained.”

http://www.punchng.com/feature/literary-punch/saro-will-give-audience-goose-pimples-directors/